Over 100 volunteers helped remove 83.2 pounds of debris from Point Gratiot beach in Dunkirk on Saturday, Sept. 22. Attendees of the cleanup cleaned over a half mile of beach as part of the 29th Annual International Coastal Clean-Up.
Fredonia’s Office of Volunteer and Community Service collaborated with the school’s Environmental Sciences program to hold the event. The beach cleanup was a success, helping to maintain the tradition of Fredonia students engaging with the local community to preserve its natural beauty and cleanliness.
Hundreds to thousands of different items were collected and properly disposed of during the efforts. From paper bags, drink bottles and syringes to cigarettes, shoes and tires, various forms of waste littered the beach at Point Gratiot. Small, broken pieces of plastic were the most apparent forms of waste with 1,068 pieces collected. This was followed most prevalently by pieces of Styrofoam, bottle lids, cigarettes and plastic cutlery with 430, 289, 228 and 169 pieces, respectively.
Despite high amounts of debris being removed from the beach at the event, some kinds of waste, such as plastic bags and cigarettes, were less present at the cleanup compared to the sweep of Point Gratiot held in September 2013.
Event coordinator Dr. Sherri Mason noted that while the success of cleanup events is highly dependent on people’s disposable habits, the volunteers who help remove the debris, and things like weather and tide, the shrinking numbers may imply an improvement in littering of certain items in the local community. Regardless, the numbers are by no means low, she noted, continuing to show the need for more responsible waste disposal and more similar cleanups to aid in the preservation of the local community.
For more information regarding the cleanup event or its results, contact Dr. Mason at mason@fredonia.edu.
